The character "Dr. Polidori" is not in Mary Shelley's novel, although he includes elements of Victor Frankenstein's mentors, Doctors Waldman and Krempe. He is primarily based on Dr. Septimius Pretorius from La Fiancée de Frankenstein (1935), but the name had to be changed because the Pretorius character is not in the public domain. He is named for Shelley's friend John William Polidori, who wrote a novella called "The Vampyre," which he began in the same weekend that she got the idea to write "Frankenstein". Polidori served as doctor for Lord Byron, who mockingly called him "Pollydolly", just like Clerval does in the film.
Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy published their original version of the teleplay for this movie, because they were so unhappy with the way it had turned out. The published script differs from the final movie in several ways. They were also unhappy with casting. They had requested that Jon Voight be offered the role of Victor Frankenstein, and their hope that John Boorman would be hired as director was also dashed.
This is the first version of the Frankenstein story to include the novel's Arctic setting.
The footage of the "Figaro" opera singer receiving applause is actually a shot of Susanna Foster's curtain call from Le fantôme de l'opéra (1943).